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Switzerland NRIs · Property Sale Tax

Property sale tax for NRIs in Switzerland

When an NRI in Switzerland sells Indian property, the buyer withholds tax on the whole sale value. A lower-deduction certificate brings that down to tax on the actual gain.

When you sell Indian property as an NRI living in Switzerland, the tax on the gain is governed by India. Under the India-Switzerland treaty, immovable property is taxable in the country where it sits (Article 13), so the treaty does not lower the headline 12.5% long-term capital-gains rate. The expensive problem is the withholding: the buyer must deduct TDS on the entire sale consideration, not just your profit, which routinely blocks ₹20-30 lakh of cash at closing. The fix is a lower-deduction certificate, which drops the deduction to a figure based on your real gain.
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India-Switzerland key facts: property sale tax

Default non-resident TDS rate12.5%
What the treaty changes hereIt sets no lower rate on this income. What a treaty decides here is which country gets to tax it.
Treaty article / basisArticle 13, immovable property taxed in source country (India)
Your TRC issuing authoritythe Cantonal tax authority (Kantonales Steueramt / Administration fiscale cantonale)

Rates reflect India's domestic withholding under Section 393(2) (Section 195 until 31 March 2026) and the India-Switzerland treaty. Surcharge and cess apply on top where relevant.

How it works on the India side

On an NRI property sale the buyer deducts TDS under Section 393(2) (Section 195 until 31 March 2026) on the full sale value at the long-term capital-gains rate plus surcharge and cess, a much larger sum than the tax you actually owe, because your taxable gain is only the profit. Indexation is gone for NRIs on transfers from 23 July 2024, and the grandfathered 20%-with-indexation option that survived Budget 2024 was written for resident individuals and HUFs only, so your cost is the actual cost, lifted to the 1 April 2001 fair market value (Section 55(2)(b)) if you held the property before that date. The over-deduction then sits with the government until you file, which can be a year or more of blocked cash.

The certificate is how you avoid the block instead of chasing a refund afterwards. Filed before the sale on the TRACES portal, it asks the Assessing Officer to certify a lower or nil deduction based on your computed gain. With the certificate in hand the buyer deducts only the certified amount, so most of your proceeds reach you at closing. You apply on Form 128 under Section 395, which replaced Form 13 under Section 197 on 1 April 2026, so an adviser still saying "Form 13" means the same application.

What changes because you live in Switzerland

Swiss relief for the Indian tax is something you claim, not something that happens. On dividends and interest you ask for the pauschale Steueranrechnung on Form DA-1, filed with your cantonal Steuererklärung, and only the non-refundable part is creditable, capped at the Swiss tax on that same income. Two limits quietly kill claims: nothing at all is granted if your total non-refundable foreign tax for the year is CHF 100 or less, and the right lapses three years after the tax period ends, so 2025 income has to be claimed by the end of 2028. DA-1 covers dividends and interest only, royalties go on DA-3, so on the gains and rental side there is no Swiss credit route at all and the India side has to be right the first time.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions from Swiss NRIs

The buyer must deduct TDS under Section 393(2) on the full sale value at the long-term capital-gains rate (12.5% plus surcharge and cess), not on your profit. Because the India-Switzerland treaty leaves immovable-property gains taxable in India, the rate itself doesn't drop. What you control is the withholding, which a Form 128 certificate brings down to your actual gain.

Because the default deduction is calculated on the gross sale value rather than the gain, so a large slice of your money goes to the tax department and only comes back at your next ITR. A lower-deduction certificate on Form 128, filed before the sale, gets the Assessing Officer to certify a deduction based on your real gain, so the buyer withholds far less and most of the proceeds reach you on the day. For an NRI in Switzerland this is usually the single biggest lever on a property sale.

No. Gains on immovable property are taxable in the country where the property sits (Article 13), so yours stays taxable in India at 12.5% for a long-term holding. Switzerland may tax the same gain, in which case you report it there and claim a foreign tax credit for the Indian tax paid. Read the note below first, because remittance rules and residence-year counts decide whether it reaches you at all. The treaty's role here is to prevent the same gain being taxed twice, not to lower the Indian rate.

Go further

Read the full guide, or see your country's complete picture

Lower-TDS certificate for an NRI property saleSwitzerland NRI tax guide: every income type and the rates that apply

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